Football Hosts No. 9 Florida State for #GTHomecoming

Oct. 19, 2015

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech welcomes No. 9 Florida State to The Flats on the Yellow Jackets annual Homecoming Weekend. The game is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The game is live on ESPN2, and can be heard on the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network, locally on 680 The Fan and 93.7 FM.

The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles have met in two of the last three ACC Championship games but are playing in the regular season for the first time since 2009. It’s FSU’s first visit to Atlanta since 2008. 

• Tech is tied for first nationally in Red Zone touchdown percentage, converting 81.5% of its Red Zone possessions into touchdowns. The Jackets’ 22 touchdowns in the Red Zone are ninth-most in the FBS.
• Tech is 7-2 in home games vs. Top 25 opponents under Paul Johnson.
• Through seven games, Georgia Tech remains the least penalized team in the nation. The Yellow Jackets have been yellow flagged just 21 times for 202 yards — both FBS lows.
• Tech has amassed 65 rushing plays of 10+ yards — the fourth-most in the FBS behind Baylor (72), Oregon (71) and Georgia Southern (68).
• Tech is 50-15-1 all-time on Homecoming Weekend, dating back to the 1949 season. The Jackets are 22-5 when facing an ACC opponent on Homecoming, but the ‘Noles are a first-time Homecoming guest.
• The combined record of Tech’s last five opponents is 27-4 and four of the five are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Up next is 6-0 FSU — Tech’s third top-10 opponent this year.
• Including FSU this week, the combined record of Tech’s last 10 Power-5 opponents is 59-9 — an .867 winning percentage. Nine of the 10 were either ranked in the final 2014 AP poll or are currently ranked in the AP poll. Tech is 3-6 over that stretch with only two losses by more than a touchdown.
• Tech has thrown for a touchdown pass in 15 straight games, a streak that began Oct. 18, 2014, at UNC. It’s tied for the third-longest active streak in the ACC with Pitt. Junior QB Justin Thomas has a TD pass in 11 consecutive games.
• Since the start of 2014, Georgia Tech has scored 194 points off turnovers and owns a +122 points-off-turnover margin (194-72). This year, Tech is +36 in points-off-turnover scoring (57-21).
• Senior DB Chris Milton is the FBS’s active career leader with seven blocked kicks. Georgia Tech has blocked 13 kicks since 2013 — the most in the FBS. Two of Milton’s seven career blocked kicks have come this season.
• The 2015 season marks the 25th anniversary of Georgia Tech’s 1990 National Championship. A full season of events are planned and a special 25th Anniversary coin will be used by the game officials for every coin toss at home.

SERIES NOTES
• Georgia Tech and Florida State will meet for the 27th time and the fi rst time in the regular season since 2009.
• The Seminoles lead the all-time series 14-11-1, but Tech is 10-6-1 versus FSU when playing at home.
• The last five meetings in the series have been decided by 17 combined points.

MORE ON THE FSU SERIES
• The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles have met twice in the last three years – both meetings coming in Charlotte in the ACC Football Championship game (2012, 2014).
• FSU’s ACCFCG wins over Tech were 21-15 in 2012 and 37-35 last season.
• Florida State’s last visit to Atlanta in 2008 produced one of the most memorable games in Bobby Dodd Stadium history – a 31-28 Tech victory over the 16th-ranked Noles, dubbed the “Miracle of North Avenue” as FSU fumbled on the 1-yard line in the game’s final minute.
• Head Coach Paul Johnson is 2-2 all-time against Florida State, picking up wins in 2008 (31-28 at home) and 2009 (49-44 in Tallahassee).
• Georgia Tech opened the series with an eight-game unbeaten streak against Florida State in 1952.
• Florida State won the fi rst 12 meetings as ACC rivals (1992-2003).
• Tech and FSU shared the overall ACC title in 1998, each going 7-1 in league play. It was Tech’s second ACC crown, after winning it outright in 1990.
• Georgia Tech is 49-32-7 all-time against teams from Florida.

TECH-FSU CONNECTIONS
• Florida State’s defensive coordinator Charles Kelly was on the Georgia Tech staff from 2006-12, serving as the special teams’ coordinator, the cornerbacks coach and the defensive backs coach, and was elevated to the defensive coordinator in 2012.
• FSU’s recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach Tim Brewster was the head coach at Minnesota from 2007-10 and Ted Roof served as the defensive coordinator for the Gophers in 2008.
• Special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at South Carolina in 2008 while Florida State’s defensive ends/outside linebacker coach Brad Lawing was the Gamecock’s defensive line coach.
• Georgia Tech has 19 student-athletes on its roster from Florida – Step Durham (Jacksonville), Victor Alexander (Jacksonville), John Marvin (Ft. Walton Beach), Quaid Weimerskirch (Pace), Marcus Allen (Hilard), Lynn Griffi n (Jacksonville), Austin McClellan (Wildwood), Meiko Dotson (Daytona Beach), Lamont Simmons (Jacksonville), Terrell Lewis (Ocoee), Kyle Cerge-Henderson (Tampa), Jake Stickler (Bradenton), Chris Griffi n (Panacea), Gary Brown (Tampa), Errrin Joe (Lakeland), Trey Braun (Tallahassee), Christian Philpott (Tallahassee), Ryan Rodwell (Deland) and Antonio Simmons (Jacksonville).
• Florida State has six student-athletes on its roster from Georgia – Tyler Hunter (Valdosta/Lowndes County), Arthur Williams (Waycross/E.E. Smith), Terrance Smith (Decatur/Southwest DeKalb), Malique Jackson (Jesup/Wayne County), Cole Minshew (Pridgen/Coffee County) and Jalen Wilkerson (Douglas/Coffee County).
• Tech’s Justin Thomas and Florida State’s Justin Shanks both attended Prattville High School in Prattville, Ala.
• Tech’s Meiko Dotson and Florida State’s A.J. Westbrook both graduated last year from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla.
• The Jackets’ Terrell Lewis and the Seminoles’ Bobby Lyons II attended Ocoee High School in Ocoee, Fla.
• Georgia Tech’s Tre’ Jackson and Florida State’s Tyler Hunter attended Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga.

BIG PLAYS BACK FOR OFFENSE
• The big plays returned for Georgia Tech’s spread option offense in the Pitt game, as the Yellow Jackets racked up six offensive plays of 20+ yards, including four rushing plays (two 58-yards runs by Marcus Marshall, and runs of 51 and 45 yards by QB Justin Thomas).
• Tech’s 9.4 yards per carry (40 for 376 yards) versus Pitt was a school record for an ACC game (9.2 vs. Virginia in 2012), the second-highest in any game under Johnson (12.1 vs. Kansas in 2011) and the third-highest in any game in school history (12.1 vs. Kansas; 11.3 vs. Air Force in 1978).
• Over the previous four games, Tech had accounted for 13 offensive plays of 20+ yards – just three of those big plays were runs.

MARSHALL LAW
• True freshman Marcus Marshall earned his first career start at B-back on Saturday against Pitt and validated it with a game-high 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
• He did his damage on just 10 carries, averaging 15.9 yards per rush, including two different carries of 58 yards.
• Marshall’s 439 yards rushing this season are the most by a true freshman running back under Paul Johnson and his 73.2 yards per game rank eighth in the ACC.
• In Tech’s season opener, Marshall rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

BLOCK PARTY
• The Jackets tied for the FBS lead last season by blocking six kicks — two punts, two field goals and two extra-point attempts — and since 2013, no team in the FBS has more blocked kicks than Tech’s 13.
• Senior Chris Milton has seven of Tech’s 13 since 2013, including his fifth career blocked punt against UNC. He led the FBS with three blocked punts in 2013.
• Milton is the active career leader in the FBS in blocks with seven, while senior teammate Adam Gotsis has swatted four kicks in his career, which also ranks among the NCAA’s active career leaders.
• Tech’s 13 blocked kicks since 2013 are the most by any team in the FBS over that span.

OPPORTUNISTIC DEFENSE
• Since the start of last season, the Yellow Jackets are +14 in turnover margin (+3 this season).
• Tech has scored 194 points off turnovers since 2014.
• Tech is +36 in points off turnovers this season (57-21) and is +122 (194-72) since the start of 2014.
• The Jackets have scored points off 10 of 13 takeaways this season, and 19 of their last 23 dating back to 2014.
• Tech led the ACC in turnover margin (+11) and defensive touchdowns scored (six) last season.
• Tech created a turnover on 26% of the opponents’ possessions, which was the highest rate among any FBS team last season.

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